Pandemic Claims Longtime Elmhurst Business

ELMHURST, IL — With the travel industry plunging amid the coronavirus pandemic, Elmhurst's Unique Travel Service closed June 1 after a half century in business.

In 1970, Virginia "Ginny" and Earle Harmon started the business. Their daughter, Cindy Lucking, has been with Unique since the beginning. She and her husband, Edward, have been running it for some years.

In an interview, Cindy Lucking said it was a tough decision to close.

"Nobody is booking travel right now. The cruise lines were canceling their cruises. A lot of the resorts were closed. They will slowly come back. But for us to hold on, it didn't seem possible," Lucking said.

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She said when her parents started the business, she would come in after school every day to work. When she graduated, she worked at Unique full time.

Lucking said her parents were active in the community, noting her mother was the first female president of the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce. Her father died in 2014.

She said the travel industry would come back, but "looking to the future doesn't keep your doors open right now."

"It was the best choice for this time in our lives," she said. "We had that corner for many years."

Unique's phone number is still working. It answers with a message expressing its appreciation for customers' loyalty and friendship.

"Thank you again for 50 years of letting us show you the world," the message says.